First off, this cd comes in a particularly well done layout, with a photo reminding me of Burri's works... It surely matches well the scabrous sounds it contains. Kasyansky, an improviser I can give you absolutely no information about, recorded these four tracks in New York using radios, a feedback synthesizer, a computer and a small theremin. As you can probably guess, this is a highly abstract work made of hisses, shortwave feedback and microscopic cracklings. You can hardly distinguish the synth from the radios, for example. It often reminded me of no-input/feedback-based works like Yoshihide's, Sachiko M's, or, especially, Goh Lee Kwang's - and like many of them, there are many captivating moments (the first piece is a quite strong one) along with nondescript parts I can easily do without.

I have been a fan of Michael Gendreau's brilliant and austere "55 pas de la ligne au n° 3" (23five, 2002), but I still had to discover his earlier, crazier activity under the Crawling With Tarts, a duo also involving Suzanne Dycus-Gendreau which ceased its activities in 1998. This massive 2-track, 70-minute release by the ever excellent Pogus (after If, Bwana's equally successful and inventive "Frog Peak Music") is a great chance to re-discover CWT's soundscapes, and also features one of Gendreau's first solo composed recordings. "Ochre Land, Blue Blue Skies" was indeed recorded by Gendreau in 1998, with "conceptual information" from his partner, and sort of forebodes his artistic and professional interest in pure motor vibrations - the piece is largely an exploration of turntable-generated sounds, with a raw free-flowing approach that luckily never mars the enjoyment of the piece. If the first track is good, the second one is a masterpiece; this time the emphasis is on the cut-up and layering of pre-recorded sources (looped vinyls and tapes, I guess) with astonishing, brain-melting results. Inoffensive easy listening music and odd language lessons are smashed to bits and re-assembled in a musical equivalent to Kurt Schwitter's Merzbau works... and incidentally, the Grand Surface Noise Opera oozes the berserk creativity of early Merzbow and Nurse With Wound, had they focused on concrete turntablism. One of the most refreshing and vital releases of 2006 for sure.

The Infant Cycle – Unrelated Work Tapespointillistic evolutionary waves of iconic life forms – new realms of auditory generation – joyful embraces – jagged children incensed by time – a bidding and biding – the path of patient distress is followed – ARC – Raw Circlehesitant ambience – on the verge without fear – point of fact point of view – square seven – phonetic flight of fancy – arrival of the fittest – winged meme